Following the INDIA bloc rally in Delhi on November 1, 2026, an 18-second video of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav went viral on social media where he could be heard saying, “Jinnah became a barrister after studying in the same institution. He obtained his education and served as a barrister in the same place. He got freedom for India. He did not back down from any struggle…”

Several pro-BJP X handles shared the clip, including Right-wing influencer MeghUpdates and RSS magazine Panchajanya.

Same Clip was Viral in 2021

In 2021, then BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya had tweeted the video alleging that Yadav claimed Muhammad Ali Jinnah got India freedom from British colonial rule. (Archive link)

Kanchan Gupta, an advisor to the Union ministry of information and broadcasting, also had made the same claim while sharing this video.

Arun Pudur and Payal Mehta were among the others who shared the visuals and accompanying claim. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, Hindu Yuva Vahini in-charge Yogi Devnath, and Amit Kalraj of BJP Uttar Pradesh amplified the claim but did not share the video.

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Fact Check

In a reply to Kanchan Gupta’s tweet, a user shared a two-minute video of Akhilesh Yadav, which confirms that statement was being taken out of context. In the actual speech, Yadav first mentions Sardar Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Mahatma Gandhi in context to India’s independence movement, followed by Jinnah. However, this initial portion has been cut out of the viral video.

On October 31, ANI posted a video of Yadav’s full speech, where the remarks can be heard in their entirety. He states, “Sardar Patel used to make decisions keeping in mind the situation on the ground. He would only make decisions after gaining a proper understanding of what was happening at the grassroots level. That’s why he is known as the Iron Man of India. Sardar Patel, Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and (Muhammad Ali) Jinnah became barristers after attending the same institution. They got freedom for India. They did not back down from any struggles. It was Iron Man of India Sardar Patel who imposed a ban on an ideology (RSS).”

So, to sum up, Amit Malviya and other pro-BJP handles shared a cropped video claiming that the SP chief had talked of Muhammad Ali Jinnah getting freedom for India. However, addressing a gathering commemorating the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Yadav mentioned only after naming Patel, Nehru and Gandhi in the context of India’s freedom struggle. His statement was clipped and circulated out of context.

We also reached out to Delhi-based historian Syed Irfan Habib for more information on the role of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in India’s freedom struggle. Habib told Alt News, “Muhammad Jinnah was a freedom fighter in his early phase in the 1910s and 1920s. He was even called an ambassador of Hindu Muslim unity. But the latter phase, a communal phase that strengthened the League and divided the country, was also majorly his creation. It was an avoidable remark (Akhilsh Yadav’s statement) because we know how facts can be twisted. Jinnah remains a divisive figure for the role he played.”

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Claim:
Akhilesh Yadav said Jinnah got India its freedom

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